


Duty

by Dirty_Corza



Series: Arian Cousland [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6573118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirty_Corza/pseuds/Dirty_Corza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Arian Cousland's life had a theme, it would be duty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty

Arian Cousland knew her duty from a young age. She would marry well, and hopefully with affection. She would start a family.

Arian Cousland hadn’t wanted that duty. At eight years old, she had stolen her brother’s sword and shield, play-fighting with a visiting teyrn’s boy in the courtyard. At ten, her mother gifted her with her first real blade, made to fit in her hand. By thirteen, she was more comfortable in training armor than in a dress. By sixteen, she was resigned that as much as fighting felt like breathing, her father wouldn’t let her join the army, not his little girl.

She was flippant with the prospect of marriage as she grew older, hiding her nervous fear behind crass comments. What she wanted, what she craved, she knew she couldn’t have, though she never gave up hope. At twenty, she still hadn’t become so resigned as to not let her father know her feelings on the matter. She would have volunteered for the wardens, if her father had let her. She would have been marching by her brother’s side, if she had been given the choice.

When Duncan led her away to her fate, she thought her brother still alive. When she underwent the joining, she’d had hope that after the battle she would find him. The tragedy of it all was slowly dawning on her. The reality of it dancing in the shadows of nightmares and darkspawn. 

When she started to pursue Alistair, her duty had been pushed to the back of her mind. After all, they would most likely die, wouldn’t they? There was no need to find a good match, no need to think beyond comfort and the way he made her heart swell.

The discovery that he was a royal bastard had been like a bucket of icy water dumped over her head. She was putting the pieces together, then, quicker than he was. A kingdom needed a leader, after all. And Ferelden was without a king. He had talked disdainfully of it then, but Arian had already begun to fear that his royal blood would be a weapon used to take down Loghain. She just didn’t know if he would be able to forgive her for using it.

When he confessed to her, with a small smile, heart laid bare before her, she had answered with a soft kiss and a firm promise. Duty, came the whisper in the back of her mind, and for the first time she didn’t bury it. It was ironic, really, that following her heart would lead to this, a calm acceptance of the duty she had only begrudgingly accepted before. Her plans were already forming, to set Alistair on the throne, to marry him and rule by his side- if they survived all this. 

When they came to the mage tower, to the fade, and Arian saw the trap the demons had set for Alistair, she hadn’t expected the bitter pang of longing. He looked so happy, surrounded by little ones, a dutiful uncle. Duty, whispered her mind again, and giving him a child was added to the list of things she didn’t think were to be borne as a hardship anymore. It made the pain of it all the more poignant after the landsmeet, to discover that there was a chance both of them could be barren. She had giving a laugh then, answered with a joke, pulled him in for a kiss only just chaste enough for the company they were in. 

She hadn’t cried where he could see her, not that first night when the pain of it was raw. It was Morrigan who had comforted her that night, with a cup of tea and silence as they both stayed awake late into the night. 

Then came the journey to Redcliff, and another night of horrible truths revealed. Another night of hard choices and Arian wondering if he would ever look at her the same way. She had bargained for his life with his body, with his child, and the worst part of it was, she didn’t regret it. Even as he crawled into her bed smelling like sweat and incense and Morrigan, even as she buried her face to his chest, tears stinging her eyes, she knew she didn’t regret it. A thousand times she could be asked, and every time she would rather ensure that they both could live than go forth with the chance that one of them would end up dead.

Arian Cousland accepted Duty, in more ways than she understood when she accepted the role of Warden Commander and Queen. When she stepped into the role of Arl on behalf of the wardens, she took the responsibility seriously, doing all that was in her power to protect her people. When the demons from the fade balked at her sword’s touch, she wouldn’t think anything of it, despite the curious look she drew from Justice. 

Once, Arian had flinched away from her duties. In the end, duty became as much a part of her as her love for her husband and the sword resting in her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my super precious Warden Commander, Queen of Ferelden, and Spirit Warrior. Who totally bonded with a spirit of Duty somewhere during awakening.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


End file.
